The Monster Under The Bed
by India Rose Ghersi
Summary: Just a short one about Rose's little brother Tony on Parallel Earth. Tony keeps having nightmares and there's something under the bed that he can't stop thinking about. What's going on here, and when will the nightmares end?
1. 1 Tony's Nightmare

"Rose." Tony Tyler gently shook his sister awake, all the while swaying a little as he balanced on his toes to reach her.

"What is it Tony?" Rose asked groggily, still half asleep.

"There's something under my bed."

"You were probably just dreaming it Tony. Go back to sleep." She said, rolling over in bed so she was facing away from him.

"Are you sure?"

Rose nodded. "It'll be alright. Go back to bed."

Giving in, the young boy tiptoed back to his room and bed. He pulled his covers up to his chin and snuggled into the bed, allowing himself to sink into the mattress. Tony shut his eyes and tried to think of anything but the monster under his bed.

* * *

Again, he was running away. Tony didn't dare look back as he sprinted along, afraid to see the thing that was chasing him. That would only make it worse, seeing it. It would make it more real. He kept running. The thing was right on his tail. If he stopped, it would catch him for sure. He just had to keep going. One foot in front of the other. That thing wouldn't catch him. No! He was too fast! Lightning fast!

* * *

Tony awoke with a start, quickly sitting upright in his bed. Jackie Tyler turned from opening her young son's curtains.

"You alright love?" She asked, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. Tony stayed silent. "Did you have another nightmare?" Jackie asked gently, rubbing his back. Like Rose, Jackie thought it was just a phase all five year old boys went through. He'd grow out of it.

Tony nodded in answer to his mother's question, a slightly fearful expression on his face.

"Don't worry about it." She smiled, getting up. "They'll go away soon. I'm sure of it." With that Jackie left the room and cautiously, Tony gripped the edge of his bed, lowering himself so he could see underneath. There was nothing there.

* * *

Tony awoke quickly, shooting up in his bed and looking around him. Everything was dark. It was the middle of the night. With a sigh, the young boy lay down and settled back down to sleep. He closed his eyes and within moments he was running. Slowly, Tony got faster and faster until he was running as fast as he little legs could take him. He didn't dare look behind him, for fear the monster would thrive on his own fear. He didn't know where he was going, only that he couldn't stop. If he did, the monster would get him. He was so close behind that Tony could hear the thudding crash as his feet hit the ground and seemed to make it shake for a second.

Finally, Tony reached the edge of a cliff and woke again, shaking his head vigorously in an attempt to make the images go away. He looked around. Everything was still black and it was still the middle of the night. Cautiously, Tony gripped the edge of the bed tightly and slowly lowered his head down so he could see under the bed.

* * *

The monster growled and bore it's sharp teeth, hissing threateningly.

"I'll find you Tony. I'll always find you." The creature hissed.

That was all Tony saw, for he quickly lay back down on his bed, breathing hard.

* * *

"Doctor," Tony asked the next morning. "When you were my age, did you have nightmares?"

"That was a long time ago Tony." The Doctor said.

"It can't be. You don't look that old."

The Doctor laughed. "Thanks Buddy."

"So did you?" Tony tried again.

"Did I what?"

"Have nightmares when you were my age?"

"I can't remember exactly. But I'm pretty sure I did. Most kids do. Right Rose?"

Rose nodded.

"Why do you ask Tony?" The Doctor asked gently, looking at the young boy.

"I keep having them." Tony admitted quietly. "Every night, and I keep waking up in the middle of the night. Then when I go back to sleep, it happens again."

"Tony, why didn't you tell us?" Jackie asked, leaning forward across the table.

"I tried." Tony said, looking at his mother with frightened eyes. "You told me not to worry about."

"Oh Tony!" Jackie gushed, coming round the table and pulling her son into her arms. "If something worries you, you've got to tell us. That's what we're here for. All of us. Ok?" Tony nodded.

"There's something under my bed too." Tony whispered.

"Do you want to show me what's under your bed?" The Doctor asked.

"I do, but it's not there now." Tony said.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not there during the daytime. Only when it gets dark."

"Oh." The Doctor nodded. "I see. You can show me when it's dark then. How does that sound?"

Tony nodded and smiled up at the Doctor, pleased someone finally seemed to believe him. He had always known he could count on his big sister Rose and her friend the Doctor, even if he couldn't count on anyone else.


	2. 2 The Teddy Bear

"Aww!" Rose gushed as she and the Doctor looked under Tony's bed. "It's a teddy bear. How sweet." The Doctor balanced on his toes and carefully squatted a little more to see for himself, shining his torch on it.

"Tony, it doesn't look like a monster to me." The Doctor said, getting up and looking at the small boy. Tony crouched down cautiously and looked under his bed. The monster Rose had called a teddy bear beared it's teeth and began to lash out at him. Quickly, Tony rose and backed away.

"Tony," Rose said, going to him and resting a hand on his shoulder. She kneeled down to look him directly in the eyes.

"What's wrong mate?" She asked gently.

"It's not a teddy bear Rose. It's a monster. I saw it. It was lashing out at me." Tony babbled and Rose pulled him into a hug.

"Are you sure?" She asked, pulling away. Tony nodded, fear in his eyes. Rose turned to the Doctor.

"Tony, I want to leave it for tonight. Ok?" The Doctor asked, crouching down beside Rose. "I want to see if you have any more nightmares. Ok?" Tony nodded slowly.

"Do you think you can do that?"

"I'm brave." Tony smiled.

"Ok." The Doctor said. "And if you do have any nightmares, we'll try and get to the bottom of this. I believe you Tony. I think that it is a monster. It's just that Rose and I can't see it."

"Thank you Doctor." Tony said as Rose and The Doctor stood up again and left the room. The Doctor paused in the doorway. "Night Tony." He said. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

The Doctor turned to Rose, his eyes wide and held out his hand. "Rose, I think we'd better run!"

"Rose? Doctor?" Tyler called out without turning around. "Don't look back or it'll get you! Don't look back and don't stop running!"

"Ok!" The Doctor called back. "If you say so Tony!" He and Rose picked up their pace a little and kept on running, Tony not far in front.

Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand anxiously.

"What is it Rose?" The Doctor asked.

"It's the thing behind us." Rose said. "I can hear it coming for us."

When The Doctor listened hard, he realised that he too could hear the thudding, crashing footsteps behind them. It only pushed him to go faster and to make Rose go faster along with him.

* * *

Both Rose and The Doctor awoke with a start. Mirroring each other, they sat up and looked at one another.

"Was that dream what I think it was?" Rose whispered.

"What did you dream?" The Doctor asked.

"Like Tony said. You're running in the dead of night. You were right next to me running too, Tony was ahead, He told us not to stop running and not to turn back." She said.

The Doctor nodded. "That's the exact same dream I had."

* * *

"So, did you have a nightmare last night?" The Doctor asked.

Tony nodded. "It was a little different though. You and Rose were running behind me and the monster was behind you. I was telling you not to stop running and not to look back."

"We had the same dream." The Doctor said. "Rose and I."

"You were right Tony. Something's wrong here." Rose said.

"I see what you mean Tony." The Doctor agreed, quickly rising from looking under the bed. "About it not being a teddy bear."

"That thing is scary! No wonder you've been having nightmares." Rose said, looking sympathetically at her brother.

"Wait." The Doctor said thoughtfully. "That's it."

"What?" Rose asked, looking over at him.

"Rose, you and I only started having the nightmares after we saw the teddy bear under Tony's bed the other night."


	3. 3 A Claw & A Battery

"You're right Doctor." Rose said, the puzzle pieces falling into place in her mind. "It's the bear isn't it?"

The Doctor nodded. "But how do we stop it?"

"Doctor," Tony spoke up.

"What is it mate?" The Doctor asked, turning to face him.

"Do you think it's something inside the bear?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"Well, some toys have batteries in them." Tony explained.

"Oh m' boy, you've got your sister's logic." The Doctor smiled and Rose and Tony returned his friendly gesture.

* * *

The Doctor lay flat on his stomach on Tony's bedroom floor, staring back at the teddy bear who was staring at him and hissing fiercely.

"How do I get it?" He asked Rose, looking up at her. "The thing looks like it will bite me."

"Come on Doctor." Rose said, joining him on the floor. "You've never been scared before. Especially not by a harmless little teddy bear." She laughed.

"Rose, look at it. It looks psychotic." The Doctor tried to defend himself.

Rose looked over at the bear.

"Right. But there must be a way." She said.

Suddenly, there were footsteps behind them and Rose and The Doctor jumped before turning around to see Tony standing in the doorway. The Doctor put his hand to his chest and felt his heart racing. "Tony!" He said breathlessly. "You scared us mate."

"Sorry." He said. "but is this what you were talking about?" Tony held up a claw toy.

"That'd be brilliant Tony!" The Doctor said enthusiastically, getting up. "Can I give it a go?"

"Sure." Said Tony, handing it to him.

Rose got up and went to stand by her brother while the Doctor went back to try Tony's claw toy on the teddy bear under the bed.

* * *

Rose sat behind Tyler with her hands protectively on his shoulders while they watched the Doctor try out the claw.

The Doctor carefully slid the claw under the bed, keeping his grip on the handle tight and steady and his eyes focused on the teddy bear, under the bed, in the far corner of the room. His teeth became clenched in concentration and he slowly pressed the button near the handle to open the claw, carefully positioning it around the bear and slowly dragging it out. As the bear came into the concentrated glow of the overhead light, Rose and Tony could see the bear was putting up quite a fight, thrashing its little arms and legs around violently. The Doctor slid the claw away and carefully pinched a bit of the teddy bear on the back of it's neck, slowly lifting it up in mid air as he got up himself.

"So, this is our culprit." He said. "A little teddy bear."

"Makes you laugh doesn't it." Rose smiled, struggling not to laugh herself. Tony let out a little giggle as he watched the teddy bear kicking and punching thin air in a pitiable attempt to escape.

* * *

Still pinching the back of the teddy bear's neck, the Doctor carried it out to the dining room where he placed it face down on a tall coffee table. Rose stood behind him with Tony in her arms. It wasn't long before Jackie and Pete emerged and came to watch the goings on.

"Pete! Brilliant!" The Doctor said, noticing him suddenly. "Do you have a screw driver? I may have some batteries to take out."

"Sure. I'll go have a look." Pete said, wandering off.

The Doctor returned his attention to the now frozen, seemingly normal teddy bear. Carefully, he felt it's back and when he felt a bump, he picked at it with his nails until the Velcro crunched as it came apart. Sure enough, there was a battery pack beneath.

Pete came back just in time and handed the Doctor a small screw driver. Concentrating, the Doctor unwound the hard top of the battery back. Underneath was a large, single battery that glowed bright green.

The Doctor again reached for Tony's claw toy, which Tony held and gave to him before carefully, slowly removing the battery from the bear. The Doctor handed the claw, still closed around the glowing battery to Pete.

"Get rid of it. As thoroughly as you can." He instructed and Pete wandered off again, the claw in his tight, cautious grip.

The Doctor replaced the top of the battery pack and pushed the bit of Velcro down again. He turned to face Tony, holding the now normal and completely harmless bear in his hands.

"Here you go buddy." He smiled cheerfully, handing the bear to the young boy who took it cautiously and smiled back at him.

"It's ok." The Doctor said. "It's safe now. Now more monster under the bed and no more nightmares."


End file.
